Editing Seville (section)

===Early modern period===
Following the [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|Columbian exploration]] of the [[New World]], Seville was chosen as headquarters of the [[Casa de Contratación]] in 1503, which was the decisive development for Seville becoming the port and gateway to the Indies.{{Sfn|Pérez-Mallaína|1997|p=15}} Unlike other harbors, reaching the port of Seville required sailing about {{convert|80|km}} up the River Guadalquivir. The choice of Seville was made in spite of the difficulties for navigation in the Guadalquivir stemming from the increasing [[tonnage]] of ships as a result of the relentless drive to make maritime transport cheaper during the late Middle Ages.{{Sfn|Pérez-Mallaína|1997|p=16}} Nevertheless, technical suitability issues notwithstanding, the choice was still reasonable in the sense that Seville had become the largest demographic, economic and financial centre of Christian Andalusia in the late Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/carav_1147-6753_1997_num_69_1_2753|title=Auge y decadencia del puerto de Sevilla como cabecera de las rutas indianas|year=1997|last=Pérez-Mallaína|first=Pablo E.|pages=15–16|journal=Caravelle. Cahiers du monde hispanique et luso-brésilien<!--|pages=15–39-->|volume=69|doi=10.3406/carav.1997.2753|hdl=11441/101782|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In addition, factors favouring the choice of Seville include the Andalusian coastline being largely under the seigneurial control of the [[House of Medina Sidonia]], Seville enjoying an important hinterland and administrative expertise, and its inland location also providing conditions for military security and enforcement of tax control.{{Sfn|Pacheco Morales-Padrón|2021|pp=408–409}}

A 'golden age of development' commenced in Seville, due to its being the only port awarded the royal monopoly for trade with [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish Americas]] and the influx of riches from them. Since only [[Winds in the Age of Sail|sailing ships]] leaving from and returning to the inland port of Seville could engage in trade with the Spanish Americas, merchants from Europe and other trade centers needed to be in Seville to acquire New World trade goods. The city's population grew to more than a hundred thousand people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://personal.us.es/alporu/histsevilla/poblacion.htm |title=Demografía de Sevilla en el siglo XVI|publisher=Seville University |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref>
[[File:La sevilla del sigloXVI.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.5|Seville in the late 16th century, [[Museum of America]], Madrid]]
[[File:Gran peste de Sevilla.jpg|thumb|right|Anonymous painting illustrating the effects of the 1649 plague]]
In the early 17th c., Seville's monopoly on overseas trade was broken, with the port of [[Cádiz]] now the monopoly port of trade as [[Siltation|silting]] of the Guadalquivir river in the 1620s made Seville's harbors harder to use.<ref name="Nash-2005">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vVA1reAI7w0C&q=history+of+seville&pg=PA1|title=Seville, Cordoba, and Granada: A Cultural History|last=Nash|first=Elizabeth|date=13 October 2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-518204-0|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne15.htm|title=Chapter 15: A History of Spain and Portugal|website=libro.uca.edu|access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref> The [[Great Plague of Seville]] in 1649, exacerbated by excessive flooding of the Guadalquivir, reduced the population by almost half, and it did not recover until the early 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1999/6/99.06.01.x.html |title=99.06.01: Human-Environment Relations: A Case Study of Donana National Park, Andalucia, Spain and the Los Frailes Mine Toxic Spill of 1998 |website=Yale.edu |access-date=10 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nEuFAgAAQBAJ&q=seville+plague+1649&pg=PA38|title=Early Modern Spain: A Social History|last=Casey|first=James|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=978-1-134-62380-8|pages=37–38}}</ref> By the 18th century, Seville's international importance was in steep decline, after the monopoly port for the trade to the Americas was relocated to Cádiz. Cádiz had gifted the Bourbon claimant to the throne in the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] funding that helped it pursue the war. The reward to Cádiz was the rights of the monopoly port. The [[Casa de Contratación|House of Trade]] (which registered ships, cargoes, and persons travelling to the New World), and the large scale overseas commercial enterprises of the [[Consulado de mercaders|merchant guild]] relocated to Cádiz. The House of Trade had been housed in rented quarters, but the purpose-built headquarters of the merchant guild was left vacant.<ref>Byron Ellsworth Hamann, ''The Invention of the Colonial Americas: Data, Architecture, and the Archive of the Indies, 1781-1844''. Los Angeles: Getty Publications 2022</ref>

During the monarchy of [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]], the [[Archive of the Indies]] was established in Seville in the old headquarters of the merchant guild. Documents pertaining to Spain's overseas empire were moved there from existing archival repositories, including [[Simancas]] and the House of Trade, were consolidated in a single repository. One scholar argues that the establishment of the [[General Archive of the Indies|Archive of the Indies]] marks a decisive moment in Spain's history, with the 18th c. Bourbon monarchy conceiving of its overseas territories as colonies of the metropole rather than entities under the jurisdiction of the crown on an equal basis as the kingdoms in the Iberian peninsula.<ref>Hamann, ''The Invention of the Colonial Americas: Data, Architecture, and the Archive of the Indies, 1781-1844'', 1</ref>

[[File:Domingo Martínez, Real máscara de la fábrica de tabacos.jpg|thumb|right|1747 parade organized by the workers of the [[Royal Tobacco Factory]]]]
During the 18th century Charles III promoted Seville's industries. Construction of the [[Royal Tobacco Factory|''Real Fábrica de Tabacos'' (Royal Tobacco Factory)]] began in 1728. It was the second-largest building in Spain, after the royal residence [[El Escorial]].{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} Since the 1950s it has been the seat of the rectorate (administration) of the [[University of Seville]], as well as its Schools of Law, Philology (language/letters), Geography, and History.<ref>{{cite web|title=Un campus, una ciudad.|url=http://www.us.es/campus/index.html|publisher=Universidad de Sevilla|access-date=15 March 2014|archive-date=25 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325075137/http://www.us.es/campus/index.html}}</ref>

More operas have been set in Seville than in any other city of Europe. In 2012, a study of experts concluded the total number of operas set in Seville is 153. Among the composers who fell in love with the city are [[Beethoven]] (''[[Fidelio]]''), [[Mozart]] (''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' and ''[[Don Giovanni]]''), [[Rossini]] (''[[The Barber of Seville]]''), [[Donizetti]] (''[[La favorite]]''), and [[Bizet]] (''[[Carmen]]'').<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.terratraditionsconsulting.com/the-explorador/traditions-culture/seville-and-the-opera/|title= Seville and the Opera, a true love affair|author= Mounielou, Jean Francois|publisher= Terra Traditions|date= 21 February 2017|access-date= 20 May 2018|archive-date= 22 May 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180522112814/https://www.terratraditionsconsulting.com/the-explorador/traditions-culture/seville-and-the-opera/}}</ref>

The first newspaper in Spain outside of Madrid was Seville's ''Hebdomario útil de Seville'', which began publication in 1758.